In recent years, various eyewear designs have been proposed to reduce glare and/or improve visual acuity, such as for use when viewing visual display terminals (VDTs) or participating in athletic activities. One particular eyewear design includes the use of upper and/or lower translucent bands or regions to reduce the amount of glare resulting from, for example, veiling illumination or ground glare. With respect to such an eyewear design, selected patents as discussed herein below are of interest, and are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,964 to Gilson et al. discloses an eyewear for reducing asthenopia developed by operators of visual display terminals (VDTs). The eyewear includes a frame removably positioned before the eyes which supports a transparent or clear optical region having an area extent for intercepting lines of sight only substantially below the mid-pupillary location of the eye. A translucent region extending upward from this latter mid-pupillary location advantageously blocks the eye's superior field of view so as to reduce the amount of veiling illumination, such as from overhead and/or window lighting. Importantly, the translucent region is formed as having light diffusing characteristics, but of sufficient diffuse luminance to avoid the wearer experiencing a so-called "blinder" effect. See also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,673, which discloses similar eyewear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,568 to Betz discloses an eyewear which reduces glare-related vision problems for target shooters, hunters, archers, and the like. The eyewear includes a transparent region provided within the frontal portion of, for example, eyeglasses, for intercepting lines of sight substantially above and below the standard line of sight located at about the mid-pupillary position of the eyes. To both reduce overhead glare, and glare reflected from the ground to a constant level of diffuse illumination, upper and lower translucent regions are used. The upper and lower translucent regions are provided to extend from the standard line of sight, and the upper and lower peripheries of the frontal portion of the eyeglasses, respectively, to intercept portions of the superior and inferior field of views.
Various methods may be used to fabricate the translucent region(s), such as by roughing a surface portion of the transparent optical region through sanding, sandblasting or chemical etching. Alternatively, the translucent optical region can be formed by coating a portion of the transparent region with a material of sufficient translucency. Unfortunately, not only are these methods labor intensive, but also somewhat difficult to control, often resulting in poor quality and consistency.
Accordingly, it is desirable in the art to provide for a new process or method for manufacturing eyewear having at least one or more translucent regions, without the associated problems of the prior art.